Of Revelations and Introductions
by Aubrey'Snape
Summary: This is just a fluffy one-shot based off my Marked fic. Read that one first if you haven't already or this won't make much sense.


The first time Hermione met Toby was… memorable to say the least. It was also something Nott and Severus teased her about. Was it _her _fault for reacting the way she did? The answer is no, no it is not.

_6 Months Prior_

Hermione wordlessly opened the front door to her and Severus' house they had been sharing since she had graduated Hogwarts. It had gone through quite a transformation in the first few months; many hours spent bickering with her mate about colors and refurbishments. The only thing that remained entirely untouched was Severus' study and his basement. Suggestions of updating those rooms were met with a very masculine growl that made Hermione's arm hairs raise in awareness. She wasn't a submissive type of woman and had never been, something Severus admired and even loved, but that _growl _had kept her from every broaching that topic again.

Noise from the kitchen took her feet to the room and placed the bags she had been carrying on the table to see Severus was bent over with his head in the fridge shirtless. She rolled her eyes and laughed silently as she snuck up behind him, gently pressing a kiss to his spine then hugging him when he stood up.

"Hello dear," She said softly but the tenseness in his shoulders made her pull away. "What—Did I do something? Why did you cut your hair? Severus, what the blood—AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hermione shrieked as the man she'd been hugging turned around. He looked like Severus in several ways, but yet not. Footsteps were heard thundering through the house to the kitchen as Hermione backed away from the stranger.

"Hermione? What's wrong, why did you yell?" Severus' said as he walked through the door.

"Who the hell is this?!" Hermione shrieked, ignoring the way Severus winced as her voice made his sensitive ears hurt. "I come in to this—this—imposter!"

"That's actually a funny story—," the stranger said from behind her, she rounded on him with a growl and didn't see Severus behind her glaring at his other self with a death promise. "Which Severus should tell you, I'm just gonna—uh—go and do something somewhere that is not here. Also, you're out of steak. Sorry." The stranger promptly transformed into a bat and was gone before Hermione could get another word in.

"I—" Severus began to say but Hermione faced him with a hard glare and he seemed to deflate slightly. "You'd better sit down for this."

~~~~~~~~SSHG~~~~~~~~~~

"So… he's you?"

"Essentially, me from a different time."

"I see."

"I meant to tell you but it slipped my mind," Severus said calmly and instantly realized that this was not an intelligent thing to say.

"Slipped your mind?! Slipped you—Severus you can remember a damn potion instruction from the Stone Age but you FORGET TO TELL ME THAT THERE'S ANOTHER YOU?!" Hermione shrieked again as she stood to her feet.

"That's a bit dramatic don't you think? He's not that old, a littler gray certainly, but hardly fossilized." A familiar voice said from the hallway and Nott stepped into the kitchen with a smile.

"Shove it Nott—"

"Do not encourage her Nott—"

Nott simply smiled at them indulgently before speaking again. "How are we today? I see it's barely gone one and Hermione is already shrieking."

Severus snorted covering it quickly with a cough as Hermione pointed her finger at Nott and snapped, "I will kill you and make it look accidental."

Nott slapped a hand over his heart and pretended to swoon, "I'm wounded Severus, save me."

"Shouldn't you be at home with your _mate_?" Hermione asked and took no small pleasure in the look of helplessness that crossed Nott's face.

"She asked for pickled radishes, radishes I tell you," Nott said. "I've lost chunks of hair from stress and the baby isn't even here yet!" Severus snorted again and Hermione covered her eye roll by examining her cuticles. "Oh sure, just wait till yours gets here and—"

"THEODOR THOMAS NOTT!" Hermione screamed and Nott immediately recoiled.

"Uh—I mean, wait till you have some."

Severus was looking between Hermione, who was looking at Nott as though she could kill him with a look alone; and Nott who was slowly inching towards the door slightly cowering. "Severus, a little help."

"I'm still curious as to when I was going to be informed of my happy fatherhood. Was I not going to be told? Perhaps you were going to just take the baby and leave?" Severus snarled at Hermione and stood so quickly that the chair literally flew across the room.

"That's my cue—" Nott said quietly and quickly left the house. He'd take his pregnant mate over Severus' any day.

~~~~~~~~SSHG~~~~~~~~

Hermione and Severus glared at each other for an unknown amount of time before Hermione looked away. "I can't believe you said that."

Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he had spoken out of anger, insecurities returning full blast in the face of information so vital being kept from him. "How did this happen?"

Hermione looked at him with a baffled expression before snarking, "Well dear, when two people love each other—"

"I meant your—condition," Severus tried again waving his hand vaguely in the vicinity of her lower body.

"My—condition. I see," Hermione said quietly, her voice fragile and small so much in contrast with the anger she previously showed.

"You were taking the potion weren't you?"

"I was—"

"Was? As in the past? What the hell? Why did you stop?! Why the hell didn't you tell me, your—mate, about not taking it?"

"I forgot once! It's not my fault you have super sperm," Hermione accused.

"Are you going to keep it?"

Hermione was silent so long that he feared she had passed out, but when he finally looked up at her he saw her eyes swimming with angry tears. Severus quickly thought back over his last several sentences and realized his error. "I didn't mean—"

"I'm going to go—to Luna's or Harry's—and I'll be back. You need to think about what you want." Hermione said in a voice quivering with emotion. Severus simply nodded and watched dumbly as she transformed and took flight. He could find her if he wished, but for now, it seemed best to let her be. He had some thinking to do.

~~~~~~~~~~HGSS~~~~~~~~~

Hermione returned just as it was turning dark outside, her anger and hurt had been cooled after much complaining and wallowing to Luna. She knew that she should have told Severus first, but she feared for his reaction, with good reason apparently. She loved Severus but he could be such a dunce sometimes.

"Severus?" Nothing. She walked to the basement entry and called down but received no answer. Deciding he must have gone out, she headed up stairs to get ready for bed, she tried to stay awake to wait for Severus but the exhaustion from the day had her asleep within minutes.

She bolted upright noticing the sunlight pouring through the windows, a muttered curse and a thumb made her slide of out bed. The noise was coming from the bedroom down the hall where she had stayed when Severus had rescued her. The door was closed but she could hear Severus muttering and occasionally a thump could be heard followed by more cursing. She cautiously opened the door to reveal Severus who looked at her with a deer-in-the-headlights look. Her eyes quickly surveyed the room; it had been painted a light shade of gray that was warm instead of being cold. There were parts of various items strewn across the room but the one that caught her crib was a half put together crib in deep mahogany and a matching bookcase. Her eyes slid back to Severus in question.

"Well the damn kid can't very well sleep on the floor can it?" He said defensively before he found his arms full of an overwhelmed mate. He buried his nose into his hair and breathed in his mates smells, letting it wash over him. There was a subtle difference though in her scent, and he wondered now why he hadn't noticed before. He had simply thought that she had changed hair potion. "I'm sorry," he whispered gently into her ear and felt her answering nod.

Well, he might now know how to put the damned crib together but maybe, just maybe, he knew how to be a father.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HGSS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: There you go, a nice fluffy one-shot as continuation of my fic Marked. Leave your thoughts.


End file.
